Syndicate
.]] The Syndicate was a secretive organization that represented certain global interests. The Syndicate was formed in 1973 and was destroyed in 1999. The group involved several members of the CIA and the State Department. They conceived of and managed the Project. History Early Years The group that would become the Syndicate existed as early as 1952 as a secret group within the Department of State. Their activities included experimenting with xenotransplantation, ("Travelers"), relocating ex-Nazi scientists to the United States after WWII, ("Paper Clip"), and covering up the black oil discovered in the Piper Maru in 1953. ("Apocrypha") The Project The members of the secretive group within the State Department officially broke off ties with the United States government in 1973, however some of the members continued to claim that they worked within the State Department. On October 13, the Syndicate formally forged their alliance with the alien colonists at El Rico Air Force Base. The Cigarette Smoking Man personally presented a folded American flag to the aliens, symbolizing their surrender to a superior intergalactic force. The Syndicate was also commencing their work on the Project, which would see an immense effort in creating an alien/human hybrid to serve the aliens as a slave race after colonization. To allow the Syndicate to develop the hybrid, they were provided an alien fetus from which to extract DNA and begin research. However, the aliens demanded in exchange samples of human DNA. Members of the Syndicate turned over their loved ones to the aliens as part of the exchange. The Smoking Man handed over his wife, Cassandra Spender and William Mulder reluctantly surrendered his daughter, Samantha. ("One Son") Destruction In 1998, the Syndicate learned of a rebel faction among the aliens that was fighting against their brethren and the colonization of Earth. The first incident of rebel violence on Earth occurred in Kazakhstan where dozens of impending abductees were found incinerated. Marita Covarrubias investigated the incident and quickly had it covered up. Shortly thereafter, many more abductees were summoned to Skyland Mountain via their metallic tags. Again, the group was attacked and incinerated by the alien rebels. It was at this time that the rebels were more clearly identified as being faceless, a telltale characteristic that set them apart as the rebel force. ("Patient X") In 1999, the rebels made their most daring - and most destructive - move. Outside of Washington, D.C., they attacked a train car wherein a group of Syndicate doctors led by Eugene Openshaw were experimenting on Cassandra Spender - the first successful alien/human hybrid. The rebels incinerated the doctors, but left Spender alive so that the Project would be revealed and subsequently destroyed. Indeed, one of the rebels killed the Second Elder and assumed his position at meetings of the Syndicate. However, the Cigarette Smoking Man realized this and had the group cease meeting together. ("Two Fathers") Smoking Man contacted his son, Jeffrey Spender and charged him with killing the rebel posing as the Second Elder with a gimlet weapon. However, Spender failed to kill him, but Alex Krycek was successful. Spender then realized the scope of the conspiracy being carried out by his father, and he pledged his support to Fox Mulder. Having their hand forced by the rebels, the Syndicate retrieved Cassandra Spender and prepared to present her to the aliens so that colonization could begin. However, the rebels appeared instead and incinerated the entire group of gathered high-ranking Syndicate members. Cassandra Spender was presumably killed along with them. ("One Son") After twenty-six years of immense work and shadowy intrigue, the Syndicate was destroyed. Legacy The Cigarette Smoking Man continued working on the Project with a new group, but he did not consider that group a continuation of the Syndicate. ("The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati") After the Cigarette Smoking Man's apparent death in 2000, other groups worked on the Project, often with the assistance of supersoldiers. ("The Truth") Organization Many members of the Syndicate met in 46th Street, New York City, (TXF: "The Blessing Way") but they were also known to meet and operate as far away as London and Tunisia. (The X-Files Movie) Members The highest known ranking member was Conrad Strughold, who held power over the Well-Manicured Man. (The X-Files Movie) The many associates who worked under the Well-Manicured Man included (TXF: "The Blessing Way"): * First Elder * Second Elder * Third Elder * Cigarette Smoking Man * "Deep Throat" (TXF: "Paper Clip") * Victor Klemper (TXF: "Paper Clip") * William Mulder (TXF: "Paper Clip") After the Well-Manicured Man's death, the First Elder ran the group. His members consisted of (TXF: "The Beginning"): * Second Elder * Third Elder * Cigarette Smoking Man * Alex Krycek (TXF: "One Son") Operatives Many agents and enforcers worked under the Syndicate, not always knowing who or what they were working for. They also occasionally employed alien bounty hunters. (TXF: "Colony") These included: * Luis Cardinal (TXF: "One Breath") * Scott Ostlehoff (TXF: "Gethsemane") * Quiet Willy (TXF: "Redux II") * "Black-Haired Man" (TXF: "The End") * "Crew Cut Man" (TXF: "The Erlenmeyer Flask") * "Gray-Haired Man" (TXF: "Piper Maru") * "Red-Haired Man" (TXF: "Nisei") * "X" (TXF: "Talitha Cumi") Background Information Name The word "Syndicate" was only used three times in the series: * In "Two Fathers," the CSM states "I've called an emergency meeting of the Syndicate." * In "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati," the CSM tells Mulder in a dream sequence, "At some point I realized that if the Syndicate didn't kill you the FBI would." * In "The Truth," Marita Covarrubias states "...to further the interests of a secretive group of men who called themselves the Syndicate." Skinner references the Syndicate twice more during this scene. Additionally, the Well-Manicured Man used the term "consortium" in the episode "The Blessing Way" to vaguely refer to the Syndicate: * "I'm a member of a kind of consortium. We represent certain global interests." Much like other events and plots in The X-Files, series creator Chris Carter based this organization on the Majestic 12, a group rumored to exist in real life with the same goals and interests. Appearances *''The X-Files'': **"The Blessing Way" (Season 3) **"Paper Clip" **"Nisei" **"731" **"Piper Maru" **"Apocrypha" **"Talitha Cumi" **"Herrenvolk" (Season 4) **"Tunguska" **"Terma" **"Memento Mori" **"Tempus Fugit" **"Max" **"Zero Sum" **"Gethsemane" **"Redux" (Season 5) **"Redux II" **"Patient X" **"The Red and the Black" **"The End" **"The Beginning" (Season 6) **"S.R. 819" **"Two Fathers" **"One Son" Additional References *TXF: **"The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" (Season 7) **"The Truth" (Season 9) Category:Syndicate Category:Organizations